Khotyn Uprising

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Monument to victims of the Khotin Massacre in Chernivtsi.

The Uprising of Khotin also known as the Khotin Massacre was an insurrection in the former Russian province Bessarabia, followed by the ethnic cleansing of Ukrainian civilians by Romanian authorities, in January–February 1919. The city of Khotin is located now in the Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine.

In 1918 the town of Khotin, was annexed to Romania, with the rest of Bessarabia. The Khotin region had been part of the Russian Empire since the Treaty of Bucharest (1812) and had a large Ukrainian population. The Romanian troops occupied Khotyn on January 13, 1919 despite the active resistance of the Ukrainian population and the offical protest from the Ukrainian People's Republic. The area's swift occupation by the Romanian troops was largely supported by the Antanta that considered Romania instrumental for stopping the spreading of Bolshevism towards the south-eastern Europe.

Ukrainian population saw the Ukrainian People's Republic whose lands where just accross the Dniester as the solution to their strive for self-determination. However, the UPR was involved at the time in an armed conflict with the Boshevik forces, while the sister Western Ukrainian People's Republic was at the time in a war with Poland that was undergoing the expansion with an active use of the military force.

The first task of the Romanian occupational force was to suppress and harass the Ukrainian population who saw little future for themselves in the nationalist Romanian state. Such policies only radicalized the opposition and in the night to January 23 the Khotin population rose into an armed rebellion. By the morning the city was liberated from the occupation and liberation of an entire district was achieved in two days. The power was assumed by a newly created Khotyn Directory' that proclaimed the right of self-determination for the Bessarabians and an overthrowing of the Romanian yoke.

The later revisionist historians attempted to ascribe the revolt to the Bolshevik agitation trying to minimize the role of the anti-Ukrainian actions of the new occupants of the region. The rebels saw little chance to obtain any assistance from the nascent Ukrainian states, and had to rely on their own in an attempt to liberate themselves from oppression. At the same time, the rebels were separated from Bolshevik forces by the lands of the UPR which was involved in its own armed conflict with the Bolsheviks.

The rebel force quickly grew to almost 30,000 people organized into three infantry regiments, the cavalry squadron and the artillery division.

A week later, major forces of the Romanian army arrived to Khotin to suppress the rebellion. The rebels could not succeed against the well-organized regular army equipped with the modern armed provided by the allies.

The Ukrainians retreated towards the river still hoping to receive some assistance from the UPR. The latter, however, facing the critical situation in the war with the Bolshevik forces was unable to provide any assistance. Facing tremendous losses from the overwhelming Romanian force, the guerillas rushed accros the river followed by the refugees. About 4,000 fighters and 50,000 refugees crossed into Ukraine during the 12 days of the uprising.

The plight of those who remained was miserable. The number of people executed by Romanian authorities is estimated to be near 15,000 (although some Romanian historians consider these numbers inflated). During the reign of terror that followed, dozens of Ukrainian villages in Bukovina were burned and razed to the ground. The plunder by the Romanian army was accompanied by a large scale maraudering, torture and rape.

The policy of forced Rumanization of the remaining Ukrainian population was implemented until World War Two, when the area was returned to the Soviet Union.

References

• Volodymyr Kubiiovych; Zenon Kuzelia, Енциклопедія українознавства (Encyclopedia of Ukrainian studies), 3-volumes, Kiev, 1994, ISBN 5-7702-0554-7
• Dovidnyk z istoriï Ukraïny, 3-Volumes, Article "Hotyns'ke Povstannya, 1919" (T.3), Kiev, 1993-1999, ISBN: 5770751908 (t. 1), ISBN 5770785527 (t. 2), ISBN 9665042378 (t. 3).
• 1000 years to Khotyn. The History of the town at Chernivtsi Oblast State Administration site
• Ihor Burkut, Khotyn uprising against Greater Romania, "Chas", January 1, 2003
• Khotinskoe vosstanie: dokumenty i materialy ("Khotin Rebellion: Documents and Materials"). Kishinev, 1976.
• Charles Upson Clark, Bessarabia, Chapter XXVI: "Communist Machinations". New York, 1927.
• Дембо В. Ніколи не забути! Кривавий літопис Бесарабії. (Never forget! The bloody chronicles of Bessarabia), Kiev, 1925
• Okhotnikov J., Batchinsky N. L'insurrection de Khotine dans la Bessarabie et la Paix Europeenne. Paris, 1927;
• Героїчна Хотинщина. Матеріяли наук, сесії, присвяченої 50-річчю Хотинського повстання. (Heroic Khotyn) Leningrad, 1972.